Chapter 1: LIFE BEFORE THE FESTIVAL
They say "before your life changes, a thunderstorm is the signal of transition."
Talk about the story of my life, I'm your (not so) Average 16 year old, As I'm getting ready to start my day with my usual breakfast, Jelly toast, eggs and bacon, I check the weather to see if the storm let up much to my surprise it did, I open the door and little did I know…my life would change.
I see a woman, a girl to be exact, about my age layed out unconscious, I usually leave people be but for some odd reason I helped her back in, she had an odd mark on her hand, Regardless of what I did in this situation her presence will be tied to me, so I decided to leave a note to her telling her to stay in place until I get back.
I get to school almost late, As I take my seat on my desk She catches my eye, My crush Rui Suzumiya, she's athletic and gorgeous and she's also the valedictorian, the smartest in our grade, I want to ask her out soon, but 1st I must get her number which isn't going to be easy, we're friends but school friends, she's been bugging me about joining the Supernatural Studies club.
The day flies by and before I can depart I catch wind of Kisuke, Student council president, "Hey there Hirokoshi!" He calls out, I reluctantly oblige to his statements before following him to the Office, "Thanks for coming Hirokoshi!" The councilor calls out before I can react Kisuke blurts out "That's what she said" I'm already knowing the reason why I'm here, They're going to blackmail me into joining their club!
Remember how I said I was a normal guy?
I sorta lied, I have a power, the power to copy other powers, Rui has a power and I just found out Kisuke has the power to see what powers other got, Meaning he found out about me a while back, "It's about joining the supernatural studies club." It's no point in me lying to them when there's a guy who's power is reading powers in the room, so I take a deep sigh…"I'll join you…I guess." I say with a bit of melancholy, "There, ya happy now? I say whilst rolling my eyes, I'm clearly not enthusiastic about this but seeing Rui get happy about this kinda turns my face red; playing stupid I ask "How'd you know?" Kisuke goes on a Chat about what his powers are, In short he has to be within a certain distance of the target there's a certain amount of information he can get but when he touches the target he gets all the information of it, Rui (Who's power I previously copied) Has the power of clairvoyance and granted I must make contact with the target as well, I hand Rui something I pickpocketed to see the current distance she's able to see, if you're wondering why, it's to make sure they don't know about the woman passed out in my house, I take the paper to sign up for the club and take a deep breath, it was to focus using the clairvoyant powers I re-copied (If you're wondering why i recopy powers it's basically the power equivalent of updating your phone.
Much to my luck at best it gets to my steps which then ruins my luck cause getting to the school gates then gets her a view in my house, As I reach my locker to grab my hoodie a voice calls out to me "HIROKOSHI!! I been lookin' all over for ya!" It's her…From the track committee and one year my senior Hana Aogami, she likes to drape her jacket over her shoulders like an anime character, but her most notable feature is her breasts, DD which is pretty big for someone her age (she's 18 and hissei turned 17 this May(the year starts in September )
She wants me to sign up for the marathon and from the things I don't see to have a choice in the matter, contrary to my complaints I'm actually in pretty good shape, I practice kendo with my little sister 3 days a week so excercise keeps me healthy, it's just I don't want to do so much, I then follow blindly into my impending doom, the sign up, as I mark my signature I feel a tap on my shoulder, it's my friend Gary.
He tapped me on the shoulder and says "yo rui wants to talk to you." He bumps me with his elbow in a "bro!" Manner "I think she likesss youuu!" He sings in a teasing fashion l, I walk up to rui and call out to her, she looks and puts her arm around me and whispers to me "So about the marathon…" she hands me a note, it's her phone number, I stammer in my words seeing as I got my crushes number, I'm guessing it's something pertaining to the club cause of the expression of her face, as she exits I look at Noa and Aogami, They have this look that says they're proud of me for joining although I was in a hostage situation; An hour later I open the door to the sound of the shower stopping, she walks out, luckily covered in a towel, "So mystery girl, I need answers." I state, I then proceed to ask her her name, "Yukine." She says in a soft tired tone which surprises me cause who sleeps that long, "So yukine May I ask as to why you were passed out on my front yard?" She looks at me all perplexed and states "I'm hungry." So I hand her an orange and get back to business.
The First thing I ask about is that mark on her hand, it's the shape of a Teardrop directly in the middle of her right palm given the circumstances I'm sure she has powers just as well as I do, Kisuke's Powers would've came in handy that way I wouldn't have to guess, nine times out of 10 is more than likely liquid based powers, I mean her powers are called blood circulator it gives her the ability to control blood, before I could ask her to further elaborate there was a knock on the door much to my dismay it was Rui, It was my worst nightmare came true I was right she did track me with her clairvoyance, The only good thing about this is she's alone, My mind perceives the flash before my eyes the chaos that would ensue if she wasn't alone. There's no use pretending I'm not home she can already see inside, so I take a deep breath and open the door and let her in, she takes a look at Yukine, then a look at me, it's kinda awkward but just as I thought it couldn't get any worse She looks back at me and says "Bold of you to invite me over when you have your girlfriend here." Thing is I didn't invite her and that's not my girlfriend, Rui and I bicker like children before Yukine steps in and tells us that if we're (mostly Me) wondering why she was passed out, she's pretty much a target of some organization, so then my mind drifts off to something you see in you're weekly manga meaning I'm the protagonist of this whole situation.
"I'm assuming it has to do with your powers and how they work." Speaking of protagonists when I say "your average 16 year old" I don't mean self insert character, I have pretty good intelligence. She nods in confirmation but that still doesn't solve MY issue, the whole passing out by MY house.
Chapter 2: BLOOD AND THE SWORD
It's been a few days since the incident And my life has returned to normal, Sounds of idle chatter fill the classroom As that is happening I take my seat next to the window and Ms kawakami tells us she has some news, we have a new student "you may enter the class." Just as I thought my life couldn't get any worse, she stepped in hair flowing like an actress but face as stoic as a Shonen Duterotagonist, "Hello everyone, I'm yukine…I'm glad to meet you guys." Just as the comments were flying across the room she glares at me but luckily nobody sees this and I guess that's one dodged bullet today.
The day flys by kinda quick as usual which is good on my end, as I close my locker I feel a chill down my spine and just as I can look back… "Some way to treat a girl who slept at your house Hirokoshi." It's Yukine standing behind me as stoic as ever, I scratch my head in search of an excuse to as why I blatantly ignored her, "My bag, I had a lot on my mind recently." She furrows her brow, she knows I am talking about the incident between us, nonetheless kisuke comes out of the blue and says "Hirokoshi the man with the ladies!" We all freeze in silence and asks how do I know her, meaning thank goodness Rui didn't inform him of the incident but she did leave out my house like nothing happened, I lie and say I ran into her at the restaurant before coming to school.
The scene now changes, the sky's blueness and the birds are chirping, there stands a woman on top of a building with a sword and jeans with one leg ripped and a hairstyle Reminiscent of chun li she then says "So Hirokoshi, You were the one who found the girl…" she looks over at her companion "You'll be given one simple task, Confront Hirokoshi, excessive force if necessary." He looks over and takes a puff of his cigarette, "Sure I guess, I hope you're paying for the poor kids hospital bill." He says in a monotone fashion, the two then agree it's best to wait til sunset that way all the traffic is down.
Back to school Hissei is now walking home but before he can cover any ground Rui catches Hissei and tells him that the marathon is the last part but everything else is exams testing their powers, so he should get some training in with his, on the bright side nobody knows he can copy powers, meaning he can just do the physical applications on his own and power based he just needs an all around power, His power copy allows him to copy up to three powers (excluding his own) There's people who can use more than one power called dual skill, it's becoming more of a thing lately as the odds of possessing 2 powers are rising, but on the very rare occasions you'll see a person with more than 2, Kisuke is an example of a guy with two powers, other than reading powers he can mask his presence and seem nigh invisible, that's how I been able to avoid being caught by him for this long, there's 4 classes of powers you must know before you can go any further in the story
Esper: Powers Based on Kinesis(Psychokinesis, and pyrokinesis)
Sorcerer: Magic
3L: Powers based on science
Poltergeist: Stuff dealing with outside "horrific" things (Yukine blood arts would fall under this)
Now that's under wraps, School is out and I'm on my way home to drop off my bags, Rui has track practice so she's busy, so I shoot her a text asking if she wanted to hang out after, half an hour goes past and I get a reply "Yes, meet me here at 7." I reply that I'll be there.
It's now time for me to depart, I make it there and Rui is waiting for me alongside some teammate, I hear light giggling and I see some of her teammates stare at me, I can tell they're gossiping and not only that they suck at whispering cause one of them asked was I her boyfriend, I look away before they can see my face turn red, she starts stuttering and calls out to me and before I knew it she's right in my face, her face just as red as mine was, she stutters more before saying "let's go." As we're making our way to a restaurant I ask what her friends was talking about as I walked up, I needed an ice breaker and this was perfect, she blushes and looks away, "Th-they asked were we going out." She said we didn't but her blushing gives me hope that her feelings are requited, I open the door for her like a gentleman we go to the second floor of the burger joint and we sit and just idly chat, She talks about how she might study abroad and her strict study routine which is impressive to say the least, granted I'm a B student in my own right I did cheat my way into the top 10, I'm not much of a fan of lots of attention, so I got in a position where I could alter my life, is it wrong? No, it would be wrong to have life altering powers and not change your life for the better, back to Rui, Aside from being the model student she's also proficient in 4 forms of martial arts and various mixed martial arts, in short she can kick ass, the great thing about my power is that I can copy that but if I'm not on the same physical level of the person I'm copying I'll lose wind quickly and that's the reason I keep in well shape.
After our hangout her ride shows up, it's her mother, who then makes this even worse by asking was I the same Hirokoshi her daughter keeps talking about, We both turn red as she mentions how cute that is and Rui is telling her to drive off in embarrassment, as I get close to home I start to feel like I'm being followed, so I use the clairvoyant powers I copied and see that I am, with that alongside Kisuke's Presence manipulation powers I get a proper lock on the guy and dip off into a side street that leads to a bridge and as I get to the bridge I stop and say "Well…what did you want from me?" He doesn't answer and before I can turn around like the cool guy I felt I was a stream of fire is heading towards me and I jump the side with my hands in my pockets (yes I'm still trying to be cool.) and he rushes behind me but I spot him and dodge his right hook, I take my right hand out of my pocket and deliver an elbow to his back and he drops, as he recovers I use the presence manipulation again and see him charging a full blaze attack, the question comes to mind should I copy it seeing as I have one more spot left, I quickly decide to but I'll discard it once I do, the fire takes the shape of a bird and flies past me onto a nearby building and turns it into ash and just as I copied it I return the move before he could even fathom what happened.
I ask him who sent him and he doesn't respond but I use my clairvoyant powers to scan the area and just as I get a read there's a woman heading towards me, Luckily I dodged just enough for the sheathe to graze me, "you did well Hirokoshi." She says, I don't know her but for her to know my name And attack me common sense tells me it has something to do with the girl, "Im guessing you're the ones after Yukine?" I ask them, they look at each other then look at me then say "well yes but no, we were more or less after you." The Woman explains that she sent her friend to test out my powers although he didn't go all out I still felt as if it was a winnable fight she then continues by telling me that there is a group after the girl the number of people in the group is unknown, But with the festival approaching near it will draw in a lot of people so it's best to keep my guard up my eyes open, "We'll speak later Hirokoshi." Before I could ask her name she vanishes.
As I get home and make it out the shower I decided to give Rui a call, I gave her the details of the attack I told her about how the assailant Told me that we'll talk later although I was never given any contact information, And to most importantly keep my eyes open at the festival due to Yukine Being a new student lots of attention Will surely be brought to her, my thing is I know just the guy who's powers will help, with Rui's clairvoyance I tracked a guy down who can negate powers, that's the best part of my power is that I can copy the powers of negation because it copied the properties of the power and not the power itself if that makes sense, so tomorrow I'll just grab that.
It's now Saturday morning and I head to the burger spot to grab a breakfast sandwich and head to the spot of the guy with the anti powers, all I have to do is make contact with him and the power is mine, I'll discard the clairvoyance more than likely cause I can regain it anytime I want and even better I know the guy who has the powers so this will be a breeze, I catch him at the library and tell him I just happened to be in the area and shake his hand BOOM power secured (I should've mentioned this power is passive) so I cleverly make an excuse pertaining to the festival and he accepts, I just need to find Yukine because I have no method of contact, I discard The presence manipulation, I track down Yukine and I ask her to come to my place to describe the people of interest and she obliges, half an hour later Rui, Yukine and I are at the house and we hear a knock at the door and much to my surprise it's HER!
CHAPTER 3: Countdown before the Festival
It's Now two days before the festival and Hissei is preparing for it, the Festival includes 4 schools total and is almost a tourist attraction, Hissei now has the power negation he needed and now today is later…
He opens the door to a woman and right behind her is Kisuke looking frightened, "May I step in Hirokoshi?" She looks at me with a stoic expression, "You're the woman who sent that guy to attack me!" She explains that he wasn't going to kill me but she tells me it was a fight I would have won 6/10 but after I welcomed her in and pour her some tea, she takes a sip and says what I knew was the end of my regular life…"Hirokoshi…You're in danger." I pretty much knew since a few days ago so there's no denying it, all I wanted was a normal life but I guess this is the karma from cheating, but I ask who's after me and she says she doesn't know the appearance of they guy but his name is Roymond, some rich guy who's apparently funding a project involving her, even churches are getting involved, she heard rumors of a student at the local high school interacting with her and taking her in, I.E myself, Granted she was passed out in my yard there's no getting around me and or my family having to interact with her, I'm just glad my parents and sister were busy so I avoided this for now but everyone will be at the festival so we have to stop this threat, I then ask the lady of her name and she looks at me and pauses…"Kyozakiri." She says with a stern tone she tells me she's still hunting for the leader so we are on our own, Kisuke and Rui are members of the student council meaning I'll truly be on my own, which sucks because Rui can kick some serious ass.
So far all I know is they attacked me to see if I was ready and most importantly a group of people are after me for helping Yukine, We have school dorms so I may cohabitate with her or something because we're both targets but my main point of concern is the lookalikes of said targets cause I don't remember seeing anyone that morning, Yukine seems to be more vocal seeing as she has more help, she says she's something called a "Gem" basically a relic with the rarest powers of their class, basically there's 8 known, Two of each class, my thing is if that's the case I should be one, then again my power doesn't really fall into one specific category so I'm pretty much unidentifiable in a sense, I like that it makes me all the more mysterious when I hide my powers!
She tells us that the people that was chasing her was named "Kurumi" and she's one of the 8 Gems she mentioned earlier, she's about our age so we should run into her at the festival which makes this easier, last year I didn't participate but this year should be the same thing, teams so hopefully I land on Yukine team at the minimum, the other was named Rize (Ree-zay) someone who appears to be a few years our senior.
With the stage all set the gang now gears for their first mission as a unit, find the people after Yukine!
PREPARATIONS FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
The Yosahai Festival.
An event held by Okyodai City over the course of seven days, from May 7th to May 14. The event was, in essence, a giant school athletic meet. Every school in the city would be participating in the festivities. Given that the city was one giant organization for the development of supernatural abilities and took up all of western Kamamura, and given that 80 percent of the city's 2.3 million total people were students, the event was massive.
Today was May 7th, its first day.
Despite the early weekday morning hour, the parents and guardians of those participating in the festival were already flooding the city streets. If Okyodai city general board hadn't prohibited outsiders from driving into the city as part of its plan to keep people from seeing too far inside, there would have been pointless traffic jams stretching dozens of kilometers all over. Therefore, it was faster to go on foot. To deal with the pedestrian congestion, the city had ramped up its train and subway services. They set up self-driving trains, too; this was all so much more than usual that they were experiencing an extreme shortage of actual conductors.
No matter where you looked, it was like a big train station platform at rush hour. It just went to show how big the Yosahai Festival really was.
These were some of the few days of the year Okyodai City was truly open to outsiders, all so others could see its espers and their theatrical supernatural abilities as they competed ruthlessly against one another. The actual events of the competition were the same as any old-school athletic festival, but seeing the students' mysterious "powers" up close was quite stimulating and fascinating for those not from the city, who may have known about them for their fame on television but had never actually witnessed them in person.
So.
A couple, one man and one woman, was walking through the near-futuristic city.
"Oh, honey, look! No matter how many times we come here, Academy City is so overwhelming. It's like the worlds we drew with our crayons as kids have come to life. If only they had trains that ran through tubes and hoverboards! Then it would be perfect…"
That was Enji Hirokoshi , a certain boy's father. He wore plain slacks and a dress shirt with a necktie that seemed more a gift than a thing someone would actually use, and the soles of his well-worn leather shoes padded along, sounding pathetic on the pavement.
A reply came.
"Oh my, oh my. I don't think this is up to the standards of the near future that I imagine. There are no giant space battleships or humanoid weapons split up into a federation and an empire fighting, firing red and blue laser beams at each other, making pew pew noises even though they're in space, are there? And I'd like to see the sabers that look like fluorescent lights."
In terms of outward appearance they look like a serious and mature couple but they are hardcore nerds and aren't at times afraid to show it.
That was Rinko Hirokoshi, the boy's mother. Although being a year his senior, She looked hlafnas young as Enji, and her apparel made the two of them seem poorly matched as they walked together. She wore a long yellow dress that went down to her ankles, made of delicate silk or perhaps another thin, smooth fabric. Over that, she wore a relaxed white sweater. There was a freshly weaved basket hanging from her arm, perhaps with their lunch inside, from the looks of it she made it herself, The wide-brimmed hat with a sunflower on her head brought it all together in quite a classy fashion statement.
Though the two were married, they looked more like a noble celebrity and her hired driver. Right now, they were walking leisurely toward the opening ceremony venue where their son would be participating.
"Honey, I don't think you can call that exactly near future. That's much further off. They apparently have pyro-blades here…Well, let's stop with all the talk of weapons, yes? We have a nice, er, atmosphere going. It wouldn't be proper to break it."
They looked up to the sky and saw smoky white fireworks popping in the air. The helicopters flitting about probably belonged to the mass media. The Yosahai Festival was open to the public, and the city allowed the media to broadcast it on television. Commentary booths were present at the stadiums and fields, and temporary outdoor studios had been set up all around the city. The viewership rivaled even the World Olympics; Enji, ever the businessman, imagined that the media was working itself to the bone.
Ack, whoa!!" Having let his attention slip, he ran straight into someone.
"Eek! Ah, I'm so sorry for bumping into you!"
Enji looked to see a lady who seemed about 34 years of age. She wore a light gray dress shirt and a pair of long, slender jet-black pants made of a thin material. Their design was simple, but the clothing was high class. He could see her sitting in a president's seat dressed like that. She has blonde, curly hair and next to her is a man a few inches taller, with the same color hair.
The girl who'd collided with him smiled amicably. "It's so big here that it's easy to get lost. I'm sorry, but would you happen to have seen a girl with glasses and two large braids, she has a very noticeable ponytail on the top of her head?"
"Right…Ah, wait just a moment." Enji rummaged through his things and took out a Map as ancient as that sounds. Okyodai City was enormous, and there was a vast number of schools participating, so it was as thick as some overseas travel guides. He gave up on trying to find a map and looked through the index at the end of the pamphlet instead.
"Seeing as we're right here I have a feeling the students are about closer to here." He points to about the center of the map where the booths would be.
"What?! Are you serious? Then where the heck is Rui?! I finally managed to get some time off from university for this!"
Is Rui her Daughters name? thought Enji as he read, but she suddenly drew near to him and peered at the pages, basically up against his shoulder.
"Hmmmm, right here huh…Ack! Crap! Now what?!"
The lady gave a cornered yelp. Had they not already decided on somewhere to meet? This soon before the opening ceremonies,
"Oh my. Isn't that Hissei over there?"
The lady next to him was still pulling on his arm, looking at the pamphlet.
There was a crowd in front of them, and most of them turned out to be students in gym uniforms. There were slight differences in the uniforms based on what school they were from, but they were all wearing either a red or a white headband.
On the other side of the crowd, he spotted the spiky hair of his familiar child. He was participating in the Daihasei Festival, so he was obviously wearing a uniform of short sleeves and shorts. Next to him was a girl in the same uniform, this one for full-blown track-and-field events: a tank top and shorts. The lady looked up suddenly from the pamphlet Touya was holding out, then pointed at the girl, who had blonde hair down to her back, then began to explain. "Oh! There's Rui. Thank goodness. I've been so busy with university that we never agreed on a place to meet."
There was a throng of people between them, so the children hadn't noticed their parents yet. Still, the children were talking to each other loudly enough that they could hear them clearly.
"Hey, so which color did you get, anyway? Red or blue?"
"Eh? Red, why? Are you on the red team, too?"
"Y-yeah."
"Oh! I see. So you're on the red team. Let's both try our best!"
"Th-then if the r-red team members do some kind of group event, we should—"
"Just kidding! I'm actually on the blue team sucker!!"
"…?!"
"Gaze upon this immaculate blue headband! It is the symbol of my determination to send every single last one of you, our sworn enemies, to the grave! We would never be on the same side. And I don't care whether you're a baby, man, woman or dog I'll beat the hell out of all of you and take all the points for myself, so you'd better be ready Rui!!"
"You…You're insane! I'll teach you to look down on people. I could wipe out all the nerds on the blue team by myself!!"
"Yeah, but you won't! In fact, if I lose to you, then I'll do whatever you say! I don't care what it is!"
"I…That's fine by me! I'll take you on…Whatever I want, huh?….All right, then."
"Oh, that's just like a proper young lady from the big city! So much unfounded hope despite having no prospects for victory! In exchange, if you lose, you have to do whatever I say!"
"What?! I'd have to…to do whatever you…"
"Oh my, what's this? Scared now, Miss Rui? After all that, are you really all bark and no bite, Miss chicken?"
I start to do a flurry of chicken noises and flapping my arms to mock her into joining, we've gotten a bit closer after joining the club, if I win I won't use my favor right away, it'll make me seem desperate and I planned to do this.
"…Fine, then. I'll do it! Just don't come crying to me when you lose!"
"I see, I see. Only people who've already given up on winning would say stuff like that!!"
I put an end to my chicken charade and extend my hand out in a pinky promise gesture, So far I have her clairvoyance, the power negation I stole for this exact moment and that blaze bird, in all honesty this would be a fun game of chess with us having the clairvoyance.
Their family members watched, deathly still, as she replied with a loud "DEAL!!"
Rinko placed a hand on her cheek. "Oh my, oh my…So clever with his words, making such an absurd request of a girl of such tender age. She sure does remind me of someone in particular. Oh my! I'm starting to remember my own school days."
Rinko was petrified with shock. "Th-this can't be. A punishment game? Telling a girl she has to do whatever he wants? What lewd things do you want to order her to do, anyway, Hissei ?!"
I nearly die of embarrassment but luckily Rui didn't seem to hear nor spot my parents.
"That lady over there looks like you Rui." I say, Rui swivels her head and looks at her, "Those are my parents."
"That's my parents next to them." And judging by the appearance they've been there a few minutes and started mingling which is TERRIBLE, after our last hangout.
"Hey mom! hey dad!"! Rui called out and as they notice us walking her mom speaks in a somewhat excited manner, "Hey you're the guy from the other day that Rui keeps talking about!" My father looks at me, "Well son I don't recall you telling me you have a girlfriend."
"You like him don't you?" Her mother asks in a sly tone we're both DYING from embarrassment and she grabs my hand and runs off with me.
"Aww look at them…I guess I'll be seeing more of you guys at this festival." My dad asks them.
The man next to them made a face. Is it their fault? Well, I'll ask Rui later. How young—and how inexperienced with the ways of the world…She sighed and pressed her hand to her forehead.
And that about wraps up how Okyodai City's giant coordinated athletic festival, the Yosahai Festival, kicked off its seven days of competition.